Redrawing the Scale: A Digimon Dissertation
by redemption2
Summary: The digital world has grown beyond the 6 levels from Adventure. See my take on how the level system should be modified to better include all Digimon. Q&A will follow in subsequent chapters.
1. Chapter 1

Redrawing the Scale: A Digimon Dissertation

As of current Digimon lore, there are six different levels of Digimon that exist throughout all the different of Digimon Universes. They are baby, in-training, rookie, champion, ultimate, and mega. However, as time has passed and the Adventure, Tamer, Frontier, and Saver universes have run their course, those six levels have proven to be extremely inconsistent. By the time you finish reading this, I hope that you will see as I have that there are many more levels to Digimon, and that the scale should be redrawn to reflect as such.

As you already know, Digimon get exponentially stronger with each evolution they take. Sometimes their digivolution comes naturally, and sometimes a human catalyst is needed. In the original Digimon Adventure, where the rules were set, they clearly created the different levels. However when the movies came out, that changed. During the first movie, where we revisit the plot of the first Digimon sent to earth, the creators added a new twist known as BigAgumon. In addition to BigAgumon being triple the size of the standard Agumon, its Pepper Flame could reach further and do much more damage than Agumon's Pepper Breath. It was obvious that this was not a Rookie Level. Yet when it digivolved again to RedGreymon, it was on par with the Champion level Parrotmon. If we assume that the series Greymon and the movie RedGreymon are of a similar strength, then BigAgumon was actually a step up from the Rookie level, but didn't make it to Champion. I dub this new level Prime Rookie, a half step between the two.

Now normally, something like that would go by the wayside, classified as an isolated incident. However in Adventure's direct sequel, Adventure 2, it was shown again. The Rookie Level digimon from the new season, in this case we'll use the examples of Veemon and Gatomon, introduced a new Armor Digivolution. The Armor level was never classified before, but I believe it to be the same as the Prime Rookie level. Veemon had two armor evolutions, Flamedramon and Raidramon, neither of which were stronger than another, they just had different features. However he could digivolve into a Champion level Exveemon, which was able to defeat an enemy his armor form couldn't. Also, in Adventure 1, Gatomon was classified as a Champion level until she lost her tail ring in Adventure 2. To become stronger, she used the armor do digivolve to Nephertimon. Once Gatomon's tail ring was restored, she became Champion again, and could digivolve to the Ultimate level Angewomon, hardly ever using the armor form again. Since each digimon had their own Champion level, the armor helped boost their power only slightly, thus making Adventure 2's armor digivolve a Prime Rookie level.

However that only proves of the existence of one extra level. But as the series continued on, many more levels can be classified, all as half-steps from their previous level: Prime Champion, Prime Ultimate, and Prime Mega. The best example of a Prime Champion would be Angemon. Patamon's Champion level was extremely powerful in comparison to the other Champion digimon, and was the only one who could defeat Devimon. Plus he was able to sever one of ViralCherubimon's arms in Digimon Movie 3. Unfortunately Prime Champions are rather rare in comparison with the other levels.

Prime Ultimate levels can be found in Frontier. You would know them as Aldemon and Beowulfmon. If we classify a Human Spirit such as Agunemon as a Champion level, and the Beast Spirit like BurningGreymon as Ultimate level, then what is the Fusion Spirit Aldemon? It can't be a Mega level because the Unified Spirit EmperorGreymon is classified as Mega. Because of its increased strength, the best place to classify it would be under the Prime Ultimate level. This is best proven when Takuya beat ShadowSeraphimon. Seraphimon is classified as a Mega level, however using only a piece of Seraphimon's fractal code did Mercurimon transform, making it a Sub-Mega level, which is basically equal with a Prime Ultimate.

Also Prime Ultimates can be found in Digimon Movie 3, Magnamon and GoldenRapidmon. The Golden Digi-eggs armor provided a kind of Warp Digivolve, having them bypass both the Champion and Ultimate levels. In Digimon Tamers, it was proven that Terriermon's Ultimate level was a green colored Rapidmon. Thanks to Digimon X-Evolution, it was shown that Magnamon was one of the Royal Knights. Putting these facts together, and assuming that both golden armors produce the same level Digimon, it not only shows that they are Prime Ultimate level, but that means that Magnamon is one of the weakest of the Royal Knights. This could also mean that GoldenRapidmon is a Royal Knight too, as there are two still-unidentified Royal Knights, but that is sheer speculation.

Additionally, an example was shown for a short amount of time in Tamers. WarGrowlmon was forced to digivolve to Megidramon in a battle against Beelzemon, a Mega level, and was still defeated. The result shows that Megidramon was not a Mega level, but a Sub-Mega, since Guilmon's true Mega level of Gallantmon defeated Beelzemon.

Thus we get to the most complex level, and the one that needs the most revision, the Mega classifications. I believe by now it's obvious that some Megas are far superior to others, while some are far weaker than they appear. The first example of that would be Digimon Movie 2, where Agumon and Gabumon Warp DNA Digivolve to Omnimon. WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon were defeated quite handily by Diaboromon due to their lack of processing resources, however Omnimon managed to wipe out all of the Diaboromon copies, only leaving the final one to be simply speared in the skull. Omnimon, one of the first recognized Royal Knights, can be classified as a Prime Mega because of how easy it was for him to destroy all of the Diaboromon within less than ten minutes.

In Digimon Movie 4, Revenge of Diaboromon, it was proven again that Omnimon was easily stronger than Diaboromon. However when he was reborn as Armageddemon, Omnimon was defeated. Armageddemon had moved a step up. When reinforcements arrived, Imperialdramon's standard form wasn't enough to harm the enemy, and he was forced to change to Fighter Mode, which was supposed to be more powerful. Even then, Imperialdramon was severely wounded by Armageddemon's Destiny Destroyer. Only when Omnimon transformed his main body into a sword did Imperialdramon change into its final mode, Paladin. In a swift irony, a spear of the Omnisword to the head was what defeated Armageddemon, showing that Paladin Mode was a step up from Armageddemon. Also according to Digimon lore, Imperialdramon Paladin Mode was the one who created the roundtable of the 13 Royal Knights. So how does one classify Imperialdramon's strength? Standard Imperialdramon was not even able to make a dent in Armageddemon's armor, and was considered a Mega Digivolve, so he is a Mega Level. However Fighter Mode has proven itself to be more powerful in battle and let them fight equally with the enemy, so I would classify Imperialdramon Fighter Mode as a Prime Mega. But Paladin Mode was proven to be the most powerful of them all. A classification for this level can't be put as a Sub or a Prime. I believe that a new level should be created, the Legend Level.

The Legend level consists, as its name implies, of Digimon so strong that they are the stuff of legend. The best example of that is the Legendary Warriors in Frontier. The ten Legendary Warriors that started their names with Ancient and their enemy's final form of Lucemon is a battle of just that, Legend. Not even Soosanomon, a Prime Mega level could defeat Lucemon's final form, and the Ancient warriors had to be summoned one last time to defeat him. Also AncientGreymon and AncientGarurumon had to defeat Onismon on the Island of Lost Digimon, which was also a legend.

The final proof of existence of Prime Levels is Digimon X-Evolution. The X-Antibody obtained by some Digimon add a prime to their levels even though their name stays the same. MetalGarurumon obtained an X-Antibody that made him a biped and a Prime Mega level. Omnimon and Gallantmon (Dukemon in the untranslated Japanese dub) obtained the X-Antibody, making them Legend level, and Alphamon himself, the leader of the Royal Knights, was a Legend level which possessed the X-Antibody.

As the Digital World has expanded, the original level chart can't hold all the classifications. With the Prime sublevels, each Digimon can be further and more accurately defined. The Mega level has been blurred between Prime Ultimate and above, being classified across the board even though it's obvious that some are far stronger than others. To help further classify them, a new tier on the evolutionary scale, the Legend level should also be created. We need to redraw the scale, so that all the Digimon can be placed in their proper group.

I realize that this article will draw up much discussion and questions. Please e-mail these questions to me, be it if you agree, disagree, or want to find out what the classification of a Digimon under the new scale would be. I would be happy to answer any and all questions about the topic. I hope you now see just how we've deviated from the simple system that the first Digimon series set up. It's time to change the old rules and update the system.


	2. Chapter 2

Digimon Evolution: Response to "Redrawing the Scale"

By Crazyeight

I'll have to take some disagreement with you on this particular bone.

The levels that digimon evolve to are supposed to denote a stage in life that naturally occurs (with humans serving as an accelerator of sorts when one is involved), and at the same time is a metamorphosis evolution where a digimon adapts to their surroundings depending on various key factors (emotional state, environment, etc…) just like in nature in the real world. Digimon of any species are not shown to be just merely clones of each other but will gain various attributes as well as changes in size (such as in first season when Greymon fought a separate Greymon, which was noticeably darker around the skull area and had variations such as extra stripes), just like any individual in any living species in the real world. A larger Agumon does not mean a difference in level (Prime Rookie versus Rookie) but more of an individual's difference in its data code (like genetics) or could even represent an entirely different subspecies. An example of this would be the difference between a BlackWarGreymon and a black colored WarGreymon, which as noted by the DMA digidex is a variant of the WarGreymon species and not a "BlackWarGreymon" per se. The same could be said for a WarGreymon of the X-Antibody variety as it's a regular WarGreymon that has gained an alteration in its code as well as its appearance, granting it stronger capabilities than the original counterpart.

Power of a digimon also plays a key role in defining a digimon. Digimon that are above the par for what their level should be tend to be referred to as "high class" or "strong (insert level)", with the inverse being true for the "weak" version of the same level (one example can be the Parasimon from the sixth movie, which are known to be Mega level, but are easily defeated by Champion level digimon like Guardromon. Another could be Lucemon, whose Rookie form is known to frighten even Mega's such as the Royal Knights, and that's no small task). Experience I would have to say plays the biggest role in determining a level's strength. Ultimate's are seen as being superior to Champions in every way, yet in first season two Champions (a Snimon and a Tuskmon), one of whom (the Tuskmon) was at a type disadvantage, held three Ultimates (WereGarurumon, Zudomon, and Garudamon) at a standstill. Myotismon also stood off multiple Ultimate level attacks (most of which were fired by digimon who had type advantage over him), and this was done so by his use of his fog barrier and magic which more than made up for his deficiencies (preciously he had withdrawn from combat against Garudamon upon her first appearance as well as a two on one fight with WereGarurumon and Angemon though he has shown himself capable of fighting one on one quite admirably against a single Vaccine type Ultimate). When combined with the fog and his magic Myotismon was almost on par with a Mega.

Armor evolution is a bit trickier to define. In 02 it was cited as being a separate evolution type that existed when the digital world was new and digivolution almost impossible to achieve without assistance, so one could say that Armor Evolution was, as shown, just a digital artifact that donated additional data to trigger an evolution like effect. Armor's are shown to have varying power levels ranging from Rookie to Mega depending on the digi-egg used and the digimon using it, but more often than not they're portrayed as being along the lines of strong Rookie / weak Champion. However the matter of it being a separate evolution becomes murky when in Savers a digimon (a Drimogemon I believe) slide evolves into a Digmon and is classified as a Champion. It's quite possible that any Armor form can be reached through natural evolution in order to classify them as a Champion, but achievement of the Armor form using a digi-egg is what classifies it as an Armor, though it is a bit strange to do so. Concerning Gatomon lack of using Armor Evolution after recovering her tail ring, I've heard that because of her tail ring, as well as her classification as a Champion with that ring, Gatomon is unable to Armor digivolve (given that she's stronger than her Armor form when she has her tail right and can evolve to Angewomon as well there doesn't seem to be much reason for her to utilize Armor evolution at all.

The levels involved in spirit evolution are different because they were, in essence, spirits whose powers had been separated; hence they no longer adequately fit into the normal evolution classification that were seen. Their power levels fluctuated quite a lot over the course of their debut. Agunimon easily defeated Cerberumon, an Ultimate level digimon (the Human spirit form is seen as the spirit's answer to the Champion level) while Duskmon proved to be more than capable of beating the tar out of not only every Human spirit put against him, but also the Beasts and could be almost even with Fusion forms. It can easily be said though that Spirit digimon have an affinity for elements that are in their own nature as dukmon fought the digidestined on the "continent of darkness" and was fighting in his element (Cerberumon also fought with flame based attacks). The only problem with this is that Kumamon defeated an Ultimate level Asuramon on his own and in an environment that was detrimental to the element of ice.

Mega is indeed a difficult level to define, but perhaps not so much as evolving even further to the level of "Super Ultimate" (a level above Mega shown in V-Tamer. In various digimon sources there are supposedly only "six" confirmed Super Ultimates, though I have yet to find them all) is much more difficult than any other previous advancement due to the sheer amount of data and energy involved in even achieving that form. Armageddamon and Omnimon are both DNA evolved digimon. Digimon that evolve by DNA means tend to be stronger than the average digimon on the same level as it's two digimon instead of one being fused together by the additional data that comes with evolution (Omnimon's composed of two high class Mega's and Armageddamon is made up of thousands of Fresh level digimon. On another note Armageddamon is more of an alternate evolution of the Kuramon line and not a mode change like what Imperialdramon goes through. Digimon have been noted to take on alternate lines of evolution in the past, some of which have high differences in power as well as savagery). Mode changes are further refinements and enhancements in a digimon's present form at the time of its occurrence. Digimon that feature mode changes are probably closer to your Prime system than a larger, more aggressive Agumon. I would like to finish this review by noting that despite level, a digimon's ultimate power as well as their appearance is defined by whatever traits and attributes their species possess at the time of their evolution, with level serving more as a reminder of a digimon's stage in life and not a determination of their power (though one can get a fairly accurate guess as to what that power is. Ultimate's aren't called "Perfect" for nothing).

I rather enjoyed that topic of conversation that you posted on the digimon corner of . :P Thanks.

Sincerely,

Crazyeight

redemption2's Rebuttal

Thank you for replying in such a thorough and convincing form, Crazyeight. Your points are all very valid, especially when it comes to type and elemental differential. However you may disagree, I see multiple points in your arguments that actually support the Prime System.

An evolution is, of course, considered an advancement into a more superior form. Tai's Koromon digivolved into a standard Agumon, while Kari's Koromon digivolved into BigAgumon, meaning that somehow, the Koromon had obtained enough different code to change into that state (though how catfood and liversticks would help anyone is beyond me). If Agumon was the standard Rookie level, then BigAgumon had a type of advanced evolution of the Rookie level, obtaining a more powerful attack, strength, and size. Though the size issue could also be considered a detriment, he managed to save Kari by leaping over a truck, something that the small Agumon wouldn't have been able to do. This is my basis for Prime Rookie level, a small advancement that increases its power over its standard form. Also Prime digimon tend to have an added feature, the ability to digivolve to the next level easier than a standard level. Koromon and Agumon are easily found in the digital world, however Greymon are rare due to the amount of data used to digivolve permanently. Without using a human catalyst, BigAgumon digivolved to a red Greymon (I was incorrect about it being a RedGreymon before), taking the half step up to a Champion to fight off Parrotmon, within an hour of its digivolution to BigAgumon. If you took a horse, a unicorn, and a Pegasus and put them side by side, they're all equestrian, however the horn and the wings could be considered a feature written into their DNA that's advanced enough to reclassify it. That's where the Prime System comes from, a deviation significant enough to alter the power levels.

The evolutions of BlackWarGreymon and the X-Antibody also apply. As you said, the X-Antibody is a piece of digital code that changes appearance and increases power. Though the digimon doesn't have a name differential aside from an unstated X at the end, its power is increased, sans Dukemon being reborn as Dukemon X (If that giant shield doesn't show the increase in power, I don't know what does). BlackWarGreymon, through the creation of 100 Black Spires, was at the very least on par with WarGreymon, if not stronger.

You also confirmed the existence of "strong level" and "weak level" digimon, which is essentially what the Prime System is. Instead of saying that Aldemon is a "strong Ultimate" and ShadowSeraphimon was a "weak Mega", we could just as easily say they're Prime Ultimate level, encompassing them both in a half step system. When you discuss the power differentials in Movie 6, there are actually a lot of incontinuities. Parasimon may have been defeated by Guardromon's Guardian Barrage, but Kazu's Guardromon also managed to push a train fast enough to equal Locomon's speed, when it's seen in previous series that Guardromon didn't really move that fast, so it could be considered that Kazu's Guardromon was actually a Prime Champion. Speaking of Locomon, Beelzemon, a Mega level, couldn't even put a dent in Locomon with his Double Impact at point blank range, while Locomon's Wheel Grinder completely totaled his bike. This could be put forth that Locomon was actually a Prime Ultimate, and possibly Beelzemon was too. Another statement to the fact that Locomon was a Prime Ultimate was when he digivolved (rather pointlessly) to GrandLocomon. Though Parasimon may have forced him to do so (he reverted in the end), a parasite is supposed to feed off its host, so there's no reason why it had to lend its power. As for the reason Parasimon was easily defeated by a Prime Champion is probably because Parasimon are Prime Ultimates (weak Megas) that are focused more on attack and stealth than defense.

Of course with every system of classification, there will be outliers, the biggest of which is Lucemon. They say that Lucemon's child form was a Rookie level on par with a Mega, and yet all of its other evolutions had the name Lucemon: Chaos Mode, Shadow Lord Mode, and Larva. How they can get that Lucemon was not classified as a Mega, I don't know. At weakest, I would classify Lucemon as a Prime Ultimate, Chaos Mode as Mega, Shadow Lord as Prime Mega, and Larva as Legend. I also admit that wisdom does help in battle no matter who or what you are, creating more outliers like the examples you had mentioned with Tuskmon. Both a crow and an ape can use tools to get food, but it doesn't mean they're on the same evolutionary scale. It's experience and smarts that define the victory. Myotismon was a strategist, and the person that left the digidestined the message on how to defeat him was also a strategist (I still think it was Jinnai, but that's just me).

One part of your citation of the Armor Evolutions doesn't make sense to me. You said that when the digital world was new, the Armor Digi-eggs were the catalyst to begin evolution where there basically was none. However when the digidestined obtained the digi-eggs, they still required the Digivices and D-terminal to activate the evolution. Could this mean that the Armor Digivolve has lost its strength overtime? If so that could also mean that an Armor Digivolve is actually weaker than a Champion, making it a Prime Rookie. Though I admit I've not seen Savers (I gave up on Jetix), from what you've said, Drimogemon didn't use an armor or spirit to slide evolve. This could mean that that specific Digmon really was a Champion because it didn't use the weaker catalyst that Armadillomon did. At the very least, I have to say that the Armor digimon in Adventure 2 were Prime Rookie, save for the miracle provided by the Golden Digi-eggs.

I admit that the lines do blur in Frontier with the spirits, however the spirit evolutions are not removed from the mainstream classifications. The proof of this is Mercurymon, whose human spirit was taken, and yet there was a purified Mercurymon in the Village of the Beginnings. We've seen in past shows, even beyond the Digimon universe, that humans can increase their strength rapidly through sheer force of will, combining their hearts and souls to give them a sort of overboost. There's even documented video evidence that an adrenaline rush can give a man the power to lift a helicopter to rescue someone. When the digidestined spirit evolved, that trait was never lost. It's something most Digimon don't have on their own, even with humans beside them. The only example of a human overboosting a digimon without becoming one was Takato and Guilmon, where their hearts bonded when WarGrowlmon appeared for the first time, or in Movie Five, when the three Ultimate digimon used Trinity Burst (which I found to be a very cheesy and unlikely way to defeat a Prime Mega).

V-Tamer is also something I'm not informed about. If that's a manga, I haven't applied those universes, just the animated ones as sometimes manga tends to change a universe drastically (example: the ends of Fullmetal Alchemist). However, this "Super Ultimate" level seems like my defined Legend level, only with fewer occupants. You described DNA digivolving as a step up from the standard digivolution because it combines two digimons' abilities. That would mean Paildramon would be a Prime Ultimate, and Omnimon would be a Prime Legend (a Mega digivolves to a Legend, then two Megas digivolve to a Prime Legend). That doesn't make sense to me. I think the Mega level is easier to describe in Primes because the sheer amount of data needed to digivolve to Legend/Super Ultimate would be too much to obtain in one jump. The original creation of Omnimon wasn't a DNA Digivolve, but a DNA Fusion, which brought them the half step to Prime Mega. As for Armageddamon, you misread my statement. I did not say that it was a mode change from Diaboromon, but a half step evolution, once again, using a DNA Fusion of the Baby/Fresh Kuromon to create a Prime Mega with intense firepower. When Imperialdramon made its second mode change to Paladin mode, all of Stingmon's identity disappeared, also recoloring the parts that were taken from him. I classified it as an evolution from a Prime Mega to a Legend because the change was significant enough and powerful enough to completely wipe out Armageddamon in one hit.

Thank you for sending me your thoughts. Though it may have not been your intention, it has reinforced my belief in the practicality of the Prime System. You have shown me where most of the outliers can come from, and given me a bit of history about Armor that I didn't know. However the differences in evolutions thanks to changes in code practically beg for the creation of the Prime system, because of the advancements and detriments that the changes in code can create. We have the basis already, but as the world has expanded, sticking just to those base classifications makes us create more complex statistics like "weak ultimate" or "strong champion" when both could be better defined into the Prime System, bringing them closer together. Especially for the Mega levels and Mode Changes, there are far too many Mega level Digimon out there with ranging powers that are far superior to the others. It's been over eight years since the start of the Digimon series, and we've been using the same system with no changes ever since. These are computer life forms we are talking about here, and computers have advanced while the Digimon scale has not. We've gone through Windows 2000, ME, NT, XP, and Vista, and yet our Digimon system has stayed the same. It's time to update and reboot.

By no means is this debate over with. I'm sure there are plenty of people out there that have their own opinions and are just begging to share them. Feel free to send any and all questions or reactions to the topic to my e-mail address (its linked in my profile) and I'll be happy to answer them. And I'm sure Crazyeight would too.

(Author's Note: I would like to take this opportunity to mention that in a secondary e-mail Crazyeight pointed out that my recollection of the fight between Beelzemon and Megidramon was indeed incorrect. Therefore I rescind the statements I made that Megidramon was a Prime Ultimate.)


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